This invention relates generally to containers for bulk material. In particular, the invention relates to a lid for such a container.
The present invention is directed to a container containing bulk material (typically highly viscous materials, but also substantially free flowing materials) that is used in conjunction with a dispensing gun for loading into to the barrel of the gun such bulk material. For example, guns which could be loaded with a caulking compound in situ from a bulk container have been developed to avoid the waste and expense associated with prefilled collapsible “sausage” or “chub” packages or other known viscous material packaging such as cartridges.
Loading bulk material into the barrel of a device or gun for dispensing such materials has typically been accomplished where the bulk material is purchased in containers, such as the ubiquitous five gallon container. The barrel of the gun defines a cylindrical chamber into which the bulk material is drawn from the container prior to dispensing. The barrel is inserted, open end down, into the bulk material and, by retracting a piston within the barrel of the dispensing device, the bulk material is drawn from the container into the barrel for dispensing.
There are a number of problems associated with the filling of bulk material from such a container. In particular, the bulk material can be costly. Exposure to air in many circumstances, allows the bulk material to quickly harden or cure. Since the bulk material may be costly and difficult to manage once hardening commences, it would be highly desirable to reduce the quantity of bulk material exposed to air to reduce the speed of such hardening or curing.